Matias Varela

Matias Varela
Born 23 June 1980
Stockholm, Sweden
Other names Louis Matias Padin Varela
Occupation Actor
Years active 2000–present
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in)

Louis Matias Karl Padin Varela (born June 23, 1980) is a Swedish actor.

Early life

Varela was born and grew up in Södermalm in southern Stockholm. Both his parents are originally from Spain, and he himself says he did not learn proper Swedish until he started school. During middle school he became good friends with Gustaf Skarsgård, son to well established Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård. Varela claims he did not know of the Skarsgård family as he mostly watched Spanish satellite television. When Gustaf applied to a highly selective upper secondary school Södra Latin’s drama program, Varela wanted to do the same. Stellan Skarsgård gave the young Varela a few hours of acting instructions and he later was accepted at the school. Varela says he found that very surprising as he showed up in a track suite and looked more like a homeboy/chav than an aspiring actor.[1]

Career

He quickly landed a role in soap opera Nya tider, but after getting into trouble with most of the producers he got fired. He left the country for a while, and once he returned he mostly worked as a construction worker with the odd smaller acting job. After reading the bestselling Swedish crime novel Snabba cash, and hearing a production company were adapting the book for the big screen he set his sight on starring as the Swedish-Chilean drug dealer Joge Salinas. Varela tracked down director Daniel Espinosa begging for the role. Espinosa, who himself is of Chilean descent, stated he wanted someone with roots in Chile. Varela convinced the director to let him screen teast, and he would eventually land the role.[1]

Easy Money became a huge success [2] and he went on to star in the two sequels: Easy Money II: Hard to Kill (2012) and Easy Money III: Life Deluxe (2013).[3][4] He also landed the role of police investigator Jorge Chavez in the big budget TV-series Arne Dahl.[5]

He made his first international role in an episode of Covert Affairs[6] as a Basque terrorist. In 2013 he starred in several episodes of Showtime's The Borgias, as Ferdinand II of Naples.[7][8]

Among his upcoming projects is Johan Renck's quirky crime drama Ettor och nollor alongside his old friend Gustaf Skarsgård.[9]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Torén Björling, Sanna (August 10, 2012). "Det är inte synd om mig för att jag får etnoroller". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish).
  2. ↑ Lindblad, Helena (January 15, 2010). "Snabba cash". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish).
  3. ↑ Andersson, Jan-Olov (August 14, 2012). "Snabba cash II” – både rörigare och mer förutsägbar än ettan". Aftonbladet (in Swedish).
  4. ↑ "Malin Buska i Snabba cash 3". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). August 24, 2012.
  5. ↑ http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/film-tv/bilder-fran-inspelningen-av-arne-dahls-deckare
  6. ↑ "Covert Affairs". TV Guide.com.
  7. ↑ "Matias Varela till Hollywood". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). July 28, 2012.
  8. ↑ Magrath, Jordan (May 5, 2013). "The Borgias Season 3 Episode 4 “The Ball of Chestnuts”". tvequals.com.
  9. ↑ "Varela klar för Rencks thrillerserie". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). March 5, 2013.

External links